Acute pilonidal abscess: Prospective nationwide audit in the Netherlands.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess Dutch surgical practice and outcomes for acute pilonidal abscess.

Method: Patients with pilonidal sinus disease (PSD) who underwent surgical treatment between 1 March 2020 and 1 March 2021 at 36 participating hospitals were included in a prospective observational cohort study. For the present study, only patients with an acute abscess were included for analysis.

A nationwide snapshot study on outcomes one year after surgery for chronic pilonidal sinus disease.

Aim: Managing pilonidal sinus disease (PSD) remains challenging due to high recurrence rates and morbidity associated with treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes one year after surgical treatment for chronic PSD in the Netherlands.

Method: Patients with PSD who underwent surgical treatment between March 1, 2020, and March 1, 2021, at 36 participating hospitals were included in a prospective observational cohort study.

Reasons Patients With Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Contact Their Specialist Nurses.

Background: Questions asked by patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) during patient-initiated MS nurse consultations may contain salient information that can help health care providers understand their needs, which, in turn, can help tailor counseling and treatment.

Methods: Records of all patients with PPMS visiting the MS center of a large teaching hospital in the Netherlands between January 2007 and January 2021 were studied retrospectively. Number and type (scheduled or patient initiated) of MS nurse consultations, reasons for consultations (in prespecified categories), and frequency of subsequent referrals were registered.

Multimodal prehabilitation in patients with non-small cell lung cancer undergoing anatomical resection: protocol of a non-randomised feasibility study.

Background: The preoperative period can be used to enhance a patient's functional capacity with multimodal prehabilitation and consequently improve and fasten postoperative recovery. Especially, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) surgical patients may benefit from this intervention, since the affected and resected organ is an essential part of the cardiorespiratory fitness. Drafting a prehabilitation programme is challenging, since many disciplines are involved, and time between diagnosis of NSCLC and surgery is limited.

Good construct validity of the CT Syndesmophyte Score (CTSS) in patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis.

Objectives: To assess construct validity of the CT Syndesmophyte Score (CTSS) for the measurement of structural spinal damage in patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis.

Methods: Low-dose CT and conventional radiography (CR) were performed at baseline and 2 years. CT was assessed with CTSS by two readers and CR with modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score (mSASSS) by three readers.

Starting Home Telemonitoring and Oxygen Therapy Directly after Emergency Department Assessment Appears to Be Safe in COVID-19 Patients.

Background: Since data on the safety and effectiveness of home telemonitoring and oxygen therapy started directly after Emergency Department (ED) assessment in COVID-19 patients are sparse but could have many advantages, we evaluated these parameters in this study.

Methods: All COVID-19 patients ≥18 years eligible for receiving home telemonitoring (November 2020-February 2022, Albert Schweitzer hospital, the Netherlands) were included: patients started directly after ED assessment (ED group) or after hospital admission (admission group). Safety (number of ED reassessments and hospital readmissions) and effectiveness (number of phone calls, duration of oxygen usage and home telemonitoring) were described in both groups.

Role of vertebral corner inflammation and fat deposition on MRI on syndesmophyte development detected on whole spine low-dose CT scan in radiographic axial spondyloarthritis.

Objectives: To investigate the associations between MRI detected vertebral corner inflammation (VCI) and vertebral corner fat deposition (VCFD) on whole spine low-dose CT scan (ldCT) detected syndesmophyte formation and growth.

Methods: Patients from the Sensitive Imaging in Ankylosing Spondylitis cohort underwent MRI (baseline, 1 year and 2 years) and ldCT (baseline and 2 years). MR images were scored by three readers for VCI and VCFD, MRI patterns were defined by presence of VCI and/or VCFD over 2 years.

Associations between syndesmophytes and facet joint ankylosis in radiographic axial spondyloarthritis patients on low-dose CT over 2 years.

Objectives: In radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (r-axSpA), spinal damage manifests as syndesmophytes and facet joint ankylosis (FJA). We evaluated whether the presence of one lesion increased the risk of the other lesion.

Methods: Patients with r-axSpA underwent low-dose CT (ldCT) and MRI of the whole spine at baseline and 2 years.

Wide Variation in Perioperative Care in Anatomical Lung Resections in the Netherlands: A National Survey.

This study aimed to describe perioperative care after anatomical lung resection in the Netherlands, before publication of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery/European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ERAS/ESTS) guidelines in 2019. An online survey was sent to all 43 Dutch lung surgical centers in December 2017, addressing topics in the 4 phases of perioperative care (preoperative, admission, perioperative, postoperative). Respondents were requested to report care that would be delivered to a standardized patient without perioperative complications.

Facet joint ankylosis in r-axSpA: detection and 2-year progression on whole spine low-dose CT and comparison with syndesmophyte progression.

Objectives: To evaluate the occurrence and progression of facet joint ankylosis in the whole spine using low-dose CT (ldCT) in radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (r-axSpA) and compare progression of facet joint ankylosis and syndesmophytes.

Methods: Patients with r-axSpA from the Sensitive Imaging in Ankylosing Spondylitis (SIAS) cohort underwent ldCT at baseline (n = 60) and 2 years (n = 53). Facet joints (right and left, levels C2-S1) were scored as ankylosed, not ankylosed or unable to assess.

What is the value of musculoskeletal ultrasound in patients presenting with arthralgia to predict inflammatory arthritis development? A systematic literature review.

Objective: Musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) is frequently used in several rheumatology practices to detect subclinical inflammation in patients with joint symptoms suspected for progression to inflammatory arthritis. Evaluating the scientific basis for this specific US use, we performed this systematic literature review determining if US features of inflammation are predictive for arthritis development and which US features are of additive value to other, regularly used biomarkers.

Methods: Medical literature databases were systematically searched up to May 2017 for longitudinal studies reporting on the association between greyscale (GSUS) and Power Doppler (PDUS) abnormalities and inflammatory arthritis development in arthralgia patients.

Increase In Il-31 Serum Levels Is Associated With Reduced Structural Damage In Early Axial Spondyloarthritis.

In spondyloarthritis, little is known about the relation between circulating cytokines and patient phenotype. We have quantified serum levels of T helper type 1 cell (Th1), Th2 and Th17 cytokines in patients with recent-onset axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) from the DESIR cohort, a prospective, multicenter French cohort consisting of 708 patients with recent-onset inflammatory back pain (duration >3 months but <3 years) suggestive of AxSpA. Serum levels of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines were assessed at baseline in patients from the DESIR cohort fulfilling the ASAS criteria (ASAS+) and were compared with age- and sex-matched healthy controls.

Impact of replacing radiographic sacroiliitis by magnetic resonance imaging structural lesions on the classification of patients with axial spondyloarthritis.

Objectives: To investigate in patients with chronic back pain of a short duration, the utility of adding structural MRI lesions of the SI joints to the imaging criterion of the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) axial SpA (axSpA) criteria and the utility of replacement of radiographic sacroiliitis by structural MRI lesions.

Methods: MRI STIR (inflammation, MRI-SI), MRI T1-weighted images (structural lesions, MRI-SI-s) and radiographs of the SI joints of patients in the SPondyloArthritis Caught Early-cohort (chronic back pain: ⩾3 months, ⩽2 years; onset <45 years) were scored by two well-calibrated readers. Previously proposed cut-offs for a positive MRI-SI-s were used (based on <5% prevalence in no-SpA patients): erosions ⩾3, fatty lesions ⩾3, fatty lesions and/or erosions (erosions/fatty lesions) ⩾5.

Similar short-term clinical response to high-dose versus low-dose methotrexate in monotherapy and combination therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Aiming at rapid decrease of disease activity, there has been a trend to start with higher doses of methotrexate (MTX) in patients newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), both as monotherapy and in combination with other antirheumatic drugs. We aimed to study the relationship between clinical response and MTX dose as monotherapy or combination therapy in patients with early RA.

Methods: Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD)-naive patients with early RA, from a large international observational database, the METEOR database, were selected if MTX was part of their initial treatment.

Development of the CT Syndesmophyte Score (CTSS) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: data from the SIAS cohort.

Objectives: To develop the CT Syndesmophyte Score (CTSS) for low-dose CT (ldCT) to assess structural damage in the spine of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and test its reliability.

Methods: Patientswith AS in the SIAS cohort had whole spine ldCT at baseline and 2 years. Syndesmophytes were scored in coronal and sagittal planes in eight quadrants per vertebral unit (VU) as absent=0, <50% of the intervertebral disc space (IDS)=1, ≥50%=2 or bridging the IDS=3 (range 0-552).

Low-dose CT detects more progression of bone formation in comparison to conventional radiography in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: results from the SIAS cohort.

Objectives: To compare the CT Syndesmophyte Score (CTSS) for low-dose CT (ldCT) with the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score (mSASSS) for conventional radiographs (CR) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

Methods: Patients with AS in the Sensitive Imaging in Ankylosing Spondylitis cohort had lateral cervical and lumbar spine CR and whole spine ldCT at baseline and 2 years. CR and ldCT images were scored by two readers, paired by patient, blinded to time order, per imaging modality.

Computer-aided evaluation of inflammatory changes over time on MRI of the spine in patients with suspected axial spondyloarthritis: a feasibility study.

Background: Evaluating inflammatory changes over time on MR images of the spine in patients with suspected axial Spondyloarthritis (axSpA) can be a labor-intensive task, requiring readers to manually search for and perceptually align a set of vertebrae between two scans. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of computer-aided (CA) evaluation of such inflammatory changes in a framework where scans from two time points are fused into a single color-encoded image integrated into an interactive scoring tool.

Methods: For 30 patients from the SPondyloArthritis Caught Early (SPACE) cohort (back pain ≥ 3 months, ≤ 2 years, onset < 45 years), baseline and follow-up MR scans acquired 9-12 months apart were fused into a single color-encoded image through locally-rigid image registration to evaluate inflammatory changes in 23 vertebral units (VUs).

Sacroiliac radiographic progression in recent onset axial spondyloarthritis: the 5-year data of the DESIR cohort.

Objective: To estimate sacroiliac joint radiographic (X-SIJ) progression in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and to evaluate the effects of inflammation on MRI (MRI-SIJ) on X-SIJ progression.

Methods: X-SIJ and MRI-SIJ at baseline and after 2 and 5 years in patients with recent onset axSpA from the DESIR cohort were scored by three central readers. Progression was defined as (1) the shift from non-radiographic (nr) to radiographic (r) sacroiliitis (by modified New York (mNY) criteria) or alternative criteria, (2) a change of at least one grade or (3) a change of at least one grade but ignoring a change from grade 0 to 1.

The yield of a positive MRI of the spine as imaging criterion in the ASAS classification criteria for axial spondyloarthritis: results from the SPACE and DESIR cohorts.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of spinal inflammation on MRI in patients with chronic back pain (CBP) of maximally 3 years duration and to evaluate the yield of adding a positive MRI-spine as imaging criterion to the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS) classification criteria for axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

Methods: Baseline imaging of the sacroiliac joints (X-SI), MRI of the sacroiliac joints (MRI-SI) and MRI-spine were scored by ≥2 experienced central readers per modality in the SPondyloArthritis Caught Early (SPACE) and DEvenir des Spondylarthropathies Indifférenciées Récentes (DESIR) cohorts. Inflammation suggestive of axSpA was assessed in the entire spine.

Evaluation of multiple referral strategies for axial spondyloarthritis in the SPondyloArthritis Caught Early (SPACE) cohort.

Background: Several models have been proposed to refer patients with possible axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) to a rheumatologist. Our aim was to evaluate performance of these models in a single cohort.

Methods: 13 referral models found in the literature were evaluated in the Leiden SPondyloArthritis Caught Early (SPACE) cohort, which includes patients with back pain (≥3 months, ≤2 years, onset <45 years; n=261) referred to a rheumatology outpatient clinic.

Ten years of METEOR (an international rheumatoid arthritis registry): development, research opportunities and future perspectives.

Objectives: Ten years ago, the METEOR tool was developed to simulate treatment-to-target and create an international research database. The development of the METEOR tool and database, research opportunities and future perspectives are described.

Methods: The METEOR tool is a free, online, internationally available tool in which daily practice visits of all rheumatoid arthritis patients visiting a rheumatologist can be registered.